Heather13

I got these at costco. I wrap them around lunch meat. Really good and super filling. There are so many great suggestions on this tread. I can't wait to try them.

I got these at costco. I wrap them around lunch meat. Really good and super filling. There are so many great suggestions on this tread. I can't wait to try them.

I got these at costco. I wrap them around lunch meat. Really good and super filling. There are so many great suggestions on this tread. I can't wait to try them.

I got these at costco. I wrap them around lunch meat. Really good and super filling. There are so many great suggestions on this tread. I can't wait to try them.

I got these at costco. I wrap them around lunch meat. Really good and super filling. There are so many great suggestions on this tread. I can't wait to try them.

Jennifer, I felt this same way. I cried when I was having my psychological consult about that very thing. But the doctor told me that I should be proud of myself and not feel shame. She said this is not going to be easy, you are making a commitment. Luckily, my sister (also named Jennifer) had the same advice and is incredibly supportive. I'm happy you're excited. You should be. I'm three weeks out and it's been very interesting adjusting to limited foods, not being particularly hungry, and not being able to eat the way I use to when I feel emotional.
I watch videos on YouTube of a woman who had the surgery a couple of years ago and has posted since the beginning. She has a nice presence and covers so many topics including what she eats now, recipes, etc. It's called My Level 10 Life on YouTube.

I got these at costco. I wrap them around lunch meat. Really good and super filling. There are so many great suggestions on this tread. I can't wait to try them.

I got these at costco. I wrap them around lunch meat. Really good and super filling. There are so many great suggestions on this tread. I can't wait to try them.

Great thread idea!
Here are a couple I like a lot.
Chili Lime chicken Burgers from Trader Joe‘s
Frontera Grill marinade/sauces are a great way to add a ton of flavor with minimal calories to lean Proteins like pork, chicken and fish/shellfish.

Thought it might be fun to get some recommendations for new grocery items to add to my shopping list. Spices, grab n go items, anything really.

I’ll add a couple of my new faves below!

I'm only a month out...and have also discovered a change in my tastes (although I would have definitely had a bite of the ribs...with something healthy that was on my food plan). I would try to come up with something like pulled chicken breast/thighs with sugar free barbecue sauce to satisfy my cravings.
I have been trying to find healthy substitutions for things I love...I have never enjoyed sashimi (my saying was "without rice, it's just raw fish") but now I love it! And it's so much healthier for me.
I also love Mexican food, so I made shredded chicken with SF taco seasoning in my Instant Pot and ate 2 oz of that with 2 oz of fat free refried Beans with 1T each of shredded cheese, salsa and sour cream. I logged it and it had 168 calories and 18 grams of Protein. I'll be honest, I couldn't eat it all...but I'm just starting real foods.
I read almost all of the Topic "Food Before and After Photos" which gave me great ideas on food I could still enjoy, albeit in smaller portions!
This is an opportunity to try new things and see what you like...focus on protein and healthy substitutions. Good luck on your journey!!

Also, have you been working on making exercise a weekly habit. Exercise can be the balancing factor. It can also be the reason you keep losing longer. Adding exercise or bumping up your exercise game, could boost ur metabolism enough to help you lose ur last 30.
I am 5 11” HW- 260 SW 247 CW- 175
I’m 6 months PO. Exercise has kept me steadily losing. I do 3 hours a week of reasonable exercise. Check out Leslie Sansone - Walk AWAY the pounds. My favorites are walk to the Hiits and the resistance band walks. Hugz

I don't know where you are weight-wise now, but if that 30 lbs you mentioned you still want to lose will get you to a normal BMI, then yea - the last 20 or 30 lbs are a BEAR to lose.
it's not unusual for people to fill up fast on dense Protein (like chicken), but be able to inhale snacky things like there's no tomorrow. That's why they recommend we focus on dense protein and low cal, highly nutritious things like fruits and vegetables. And that's what people should be focusing on anyway if they want to stay healthy, regardless of weight or surgery status.
if you aren't tracking your intake, I'd start doing it. I still track everything I eat at five years out. I've learned I can maintain my weight if I stay between 1500-1700 calories a day (and that range it going to vary for everyone - you may be able to eat more or less - but if you're still trying to lose weight, then probably less....). It's really easy to go over your range and start gaining weight if you're not paying attention. The only time since surgery that I didn't track (other than a day or two here and there) was when I spent a month abroad last fall. I didn't THINK I was eating too much but....TA DA!....I came back a few pounds heavier than when I left. Easy to do.
if you want to continue to lose weight, you'll have to focus on dense Proteins and vegetables. They're filling and will give you the most nutritional bang for the buck. And maybe small servings of fruit, too (I could eat fruit with no problem - but some people limit it because of the sugar). If you focus on those things but STILL aren't losing weight, then you'll have to cut back on total calories, too. I didn't consistently go over 1000 per day until I was about a year out.
btw....I do keep some "safe" things around for snack attacks when I get them - SF Jello, SF popsicles, Light & Fit yogurt, baby carrots, celery, costco roasted seaweed, lots of different types of tea, lots of safe and fun things to drink, like flavored waters.
I know it's really hard sometimes - but it's the only way to lose weight - or avoid gaining it. It's a daily struggle...

I would track everything you eat (if you aren't already doing that), and make sure that you are getting your Protein in, while keeping calories low. You said you can only eat a few bites of chicken, but Snacks go down easy. What are the snacks you are eating? If they are going down easy, maybe you should eliminate them, and stick to the foods like chicken, where you are full after a few bites?
I'm sure some veterans will have some great advice for you!! Good luck!!!

I'm super interested to see how others reply to your post. And I appreciate how honest it is. I'm three months out, and I'm at the point where I can pretty much eat anything. Certain I'm not supposed to, but everything feels tolerable to me. The problem is now that I can eat anything I've really slipped back into some of my bad habits. I'm a big stress eater and I've had a lot of stress the past couple of weeks. That's when I really find myself eating mindlessly, late at night, and just feeling so sick. It takes a lot less "bad" food to make me feel ill now, but I'm frustrated with myself that I'm even doing this kind of thing again. So, I guess my feeling would be that getting used to a new normal is the better choice. And somehow finding a way to be really happy with the new normal. I've lost about 40 lbs and that has made me extremely happy. But not using food as a coping skill is not something I've learned yet. Oh, and lastly, you will definitely be able to eat two ribs in the not too distant future. I think that is really when I'm feeling on top of things. When I have a small portion of something delicious and it satisfies me, and doesn't make me sick, and I don't throw the whole day away because of it.

I’m new here, still doing post-op liquids 😭
but my mom has had this surgery 20yrs ago and she can pretty much eat anything she wants to, actually for 15+ years she has been able to eat everything. Too much of anything is still bad for her, but she knows her limits.
I just write to give you hope. You will one day be able to eat a little bit of anything on the planet ❤️

Arabesque, thank you for sharing that. Your perspective is helpful. You had your sleeve surgery about a year before I had mine, so it's nice to be able to read what you and others have done. This site has been extremely helpful.

I saw my Doctor for my 2 year follow up today, on my actual 2 year anniversary, and it went great. I asked him if I should worry about year three. He smiled and said I don’t worry about you, you get this, and has every confidence that I will stay on track.
I think the second year was easier for me than the first year, I feel like I know what I have to do, and what to avoid, to maintain a healthy weight. I lost weight so slowly the first year, I got very frustrated at times but I never lost hope, cheated or gave up. I WANTED And needed this, so quitting was never an option for me. Reading this board then participating A few months later really helped me reach my goals.
Im not going to kid myself and assume anything. I have to stay diligent and track what I eat and remain active. There is no magic answer, you have to put in the work and keep doing it. It hasn’t always been easy but it has been so worth it.

So far, so good.

Thank you for this information. I've been reading his book, but didn't know he had videos. And thanks to the others who have cautioned against his later videos. I'll stick to the information he shares that's helpful to me.

Thank you all for the insights! It gives me a little sigh of relief that the WLS will continue to work after the weight is lost as long as I continue with the new lifestyle. I think Heather13 said it best...
I realize it will not be an easy road, but remaining prisoner in my current fat body is no longer an option! I will try my best to not continually psych myself out!
Again thank you everyone. This is an amazing site!

Unlike many others on this board I absolutely abhor the "abstinence forever, never again" approach with a passion because in too many cases it leads to the exact same problem that made you gain back 160 lbs. People start bingeing on the "forbidden foods" they denied themselves for a long time. That's not unusual and it happened after the diets we used to put ourselves through before WLS.
I personally think it's a huge mistake of treatment teams to hammer the "abstinence forever, never again" mantra into the heads of their patients instead of steering them into the direction to learn to handle these foods in a sensible way because most patients will sooner or later try these "forbidden foods". They're tasty, they are maybe old favorites and (maybe that is the worst trigger) your environment views them as normal foods that can be eaten without feeling like a sinner that has fallen from grace.
So now that the damage is done it's of course a huge and bitter pill to swallow. However, you now know that the approach you tried before didn't work for you. So you can do different and better this time. Yes, you need to cut down on calories but instead of denying yourself all the foods you like, incorporate them within reasonable amounts. Read about "normal eating" (the books of e. g. Geneen Roth or Karen Koenig have a lot to offer), it can help tremendously with emotional eating or strong food cravings.
Do you still have restriction? If so, you still have something to work with and while the road ahead is a long one you can still make your way to a substantial amount of weight loss - but maybe you want to choose a slightly different road this time since the road you travelled before got you back to your starting point in the end, running around in a painful circle.

Get an appetizer, share an entree, and/or take home leftovers. If it's just me and my husband, we share. If it's with a group (and people don't know about my WLS), I get my own entree, eat some of the Protein, and I'm good to go. I still enjoy the food, just a small portion. It's a nice feeling not to over stuff myself with huge restaurant portions anymore!

Ok, so my wife said the after picture wasn't very good. Here's a better one.

48yr Male, 5/18/20 VSG
HW 382, SW 309, CW 282
First visit to the nutritionist was 7/3/2019. Had a long pre-op program then was delayed by COVID-19, so wasn't sleeved until 5/18/20. Lost 73# pre-op, 27# since - for a total of 100! Excited to hit this goal, and only have about 40-60 lbs left to meet my first and second goal.
You can do it, stick to the program, Proteins + fluids, you know the drill. The second pic isn't great - I'm about to have to retire another size of shirts in the next few weeks.

What type of surgery did you have?
I had the sleeve surgery, and I was allowed to start soft food after 1 week: eggs, cottage cheese, beans, chicken. I couldn't get much of that down so I'd have something like that during the day, and the rest of the day would be Protein Drinks. I'm now on week 5 and still doing soft foods, but more of that and less of the Protein drinks. It really does seem to vary from doctor to doctor. But, for my doctor, you didn't go wrong with the beans. I think the potatoes aren't as good because they'll fill you up, and you won't be getting protein.